It was 3 degrees F with a 19 mph wind--making for a minus seventeen F windchill as St. Paul eastside resident John Schmitz, marched along thoroughly bundled against the cold, frost-covered with a few icicles as he took his daily walk around Lake Phalen at lunchtime Thursday afternoon January 31, 2013. (Pioneer Press: John Doman)

"I'd rather be in California," said Patty Schultz of St. Paul, who nevertheless gamely adjusts her mask as she faces wind chills in the minus 20-degree range on behalf of Liberty Income Tax service at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Arcade Street in St. Paul on Thursday January 31, 2013. "You get jumpin' around and it's not so bad. I've got my hand warmers in here. Kids go by and they think I look like Lisa Simpson," said Schiltz, who is in her third tax season in costume trying to draw business for the firm. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall)

Braving single-digit temperatures, gusty winds and subzero wind chill, John Schmitz of St. Paul bundles up against the cold Thursday afternoon during his daily walk around Lake Phalen on the city’s East Side.

“I’d rather be in California,” said Patty Schultz of St. Paul as she stood in costume Thursday outside Liberty Tax Service to draw business to the firm’s office at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Arcade Street in St. Paul. “You get jumpin’ around and it’s not so bad,” Schultz said of the cold. “I’ve got my handwarmers in here. Kids go by and they think I look like Lisa Simpson.”

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